Luftwaffe field divisions

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Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/9/2010 5:00:12 PM

Cavalry Corp

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I know these units were hastily formed at first low equipment ( except flak ) HW etc 1942 onwards and they merit a lower rating at that stage BUT actually by 44 I have read that they were entrusted to defend important positions as regular units . Thats the key - these units were quite reasonable but lacked offensive capability not quality as such. I think its a misconception to downgrade them too much.

Anyone else agree?

cav

Post #: 1

RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/9/2010 5:13:06 PM

Great_Ajax

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These units arrive in late 42 at a low experience level but it will be up to the player to get their experience raised via combat which is quite possible to do. They are not arbitrarily downgraded in experience over time.

Trey

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(in reply to Cavalry Corp)

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/9/2010 5:26:26 PM

Cavalry Corp

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That sounds fine to me but they should not be too much lower

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/9/2010 8:47:06 PM

wiking62

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In 1942 Hitler authorised the formation of the Luftwaffe Field divisions, however most of these divisions were inadequately trained, especially for combat on the Eastern Front. Here is a very brief history of each divison.

1st Luftwaffe Field division

Completed training in early 1943 and committed to AGN. First major engagement was in the withdrawal from Leningrad in January 1944. Suffered such heavy losses that it had to be disbanded.

2nd Luftwaffe Field division

Formed in 1942-43 and sent to AGC. Field Marshal Ernst Busch was not happy with this division and had it disbanded in early 1944. Most of the divisions men remained on the Eastern Front and were captured when AGC was smashed by the Russian offensive in July/August 1944.

3rd Luftwaffe Field division

Formed in 1942-43 and sent to AGC in late 1943. Disbanded in 1944. The divisions manpower remained on the Eastern Front.

4th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1942-43 and sent to AGC. In July 1944 the division was virtually destroyed at Vitebsk along with the rest of 3rd Panzer Army�s LIII Corps.

5th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1942-43 and sent to Southern sector of Eastern Front. Suffered very heavy casualties in the Russian winter offensive of 1942-43 and disbanded.

6th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed winter 1942-43 and sent to AGC. Attached to LIII Corps of 3rd Panzer Army and encircled and destroyed at Vitebsk.

7th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed late 1942 and sent to Army Group Don. As part of Army Detachment Hollidt the division tried to hold the Upper Chir river line. The 7th was badly mauled but did not collapse completely. Disbanded in May 1943 and manpower absorbed into the 15th Luftwaffe Field division.

8th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1942 and sent to Army Detachment Hollidt. Fought along the Upper Chir river line during winter of 1942/43 and had to be withdrawn and disbanded in the summer of 1943.

9th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed late 1942 and sent to Northern sector of Eastern Front in January 1943. Heavily engaged in the retreat from Leningrad in February 1944 and disbanded due to heavy casualties.

10th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed in 1942 and sent to AGN in January 1943. Part of 18th Army that was besieging Leningrad. Russian assaults to relieve Leningrad smashed the division and further heavy losses in the retreat through the Baltics to the Narva River led to the division being disbanded.

11th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1942 and in early 1943 sent to the Aegean Islands. February 1944 transferred to Megara area of Greece and participated in anti partisan operations. September 1944 retreated through the Balkans and was still in action on the Southern sector of the Eastern Front in 1945.

12th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1942-43 and sent to AGN. Heavy casualties in the retreat from Leningrad, but received a large number of replacements from Field divisions that were disbanded in early 1944. October 1944 the 12th was in action during the retreat through Latvia and took part in the battles of the Kurland Pocket. Surrendered with the 18th Army at the end of the war.

13th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1942 and sent to Northern sector of Eastern Front. The division was virtually destroyed when the Russians broke the siege of Leningrad and had to be disbanded.

14th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1942-43 and was not fully trained or equipped when it was sent to Norway to replace the 196th Infantry division. Transferred to the Jutland peninsular in Denmark in early 1944. Returned to Norway in mid 1944 where it remained until the end of the war. The division never saw combat.

15th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed late 1942 and sent to Army Group Don. The 15th fell apart during its first few days in combat. Removed from the front line and absorbed the survivors of the 7th LF division. Sent back to the front and in the autumn of 1943 the division sustained heavy losses around Taganrog. Soon afterwards the division was disbanded, but its manpower remained on the Eastern Front.

Rest to follow later - 16th LF to 22nd LF

(in reply to Cavalry Corp)

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/9/2010 9:33:35 PM

wiking62

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16th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed in 1942-43 as a two regiment division and stationed in Holland. In June 1944 the 45th Field Infantry Regiment was created by reducing the other two regiments to two battalions each. In late June the division was sent to Normandy and replaced the Panzer Lehr division on July 2nd as part of Army Group B. �July 3rd the division was overrun by British forces around Caen. The division lost 75% of its men. Survivors were attached to
21st Panzer division. Remnants were withdrawn and combined with 158th Reserve division to form the 16th Infantry division.

17th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed and trained in Pomerania and posted as a static division on the Atlantic coast. In the spring of 1944 it was positioned East of Le Havre as part of the 15th Army. The division helped in the defence of Paris as part of the 5th Panzer Army. On 28th August it was attacked by U.S. 1st Army and virtually destroyed. Shortly afterwards the division was disbanded and the survivors were absorbed into the 167th Infantry division.

18th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed in France in the Rochefort area. Served in Northern France and Belgium throughout its existence. First action was as part of 5th Panzer Army defending Paris in August 1944. Retreated to Belgium and trapped in the Mons pocket. Only about three hundred men escaped from the pocket and the division was disbanded. The few survivors joined the 18th Volksgrenadier division.

19th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1943 in Munich and sent to Normandy in March. June to December the division was stationed in Holland. In January 1944 the division moved to the Ghent-Bruges area and then onto the Thielt area in the spring. June 1944 transferred to Italy where it saw its first combat. Suffered heavy casualties and the remnants were sent to Denmark where they were absorbed into the 19th Volksgrenadier division.

20th Luftwaffe Field division

Formed in 1943 and sent to Denmark in August. Transferred to Italy in June 1944 and suffered heavy casualties. In October the division was subordinated to the 26th Panzer division.� Withdrawn in November and sent to Treviso where the division was disbanded. Survivors were assigned to the 155th Field Training division.

21st Luftwaffe Field division

Formed 1943 and sent to the Northern sector of the Eastern Front. Suffered heavy losses during the retreat from Leningrad and heavily engaged near Lake Ilmen in February 1944. Withdrew with AGN to the Latvian coast and ended the war in the Kurland pocket.

22nd Luftwaffe Field division

The formation of the division started in 1943, but was never completed.

< Message edited by hart2412 -- 3/9/2010 9:34:20 PM >

(in reply to wiking62)

Post #: 5

RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 12:21:00 AM

Cavalry Corp

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Hart

Where is this from ?

Interesting there were so many

Please note the two Divisions in AGC at the start of the Russian offensive were in the front line - they would not be there by choice

They were not Sich or security units which leads one to assume that whilst not capable of offensive ops they were still good enough for the defensive roll assigned to them??

Cav

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 1:00:42 AM

Montbrun

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quote:

ORIGINAL: cavalry

Hart

Where is this from ?

Interesting there were so many

Please note the two Divisions in AGC at the start of the Russian offensive were in the front line - they would not be there by choice

They were not Sich or security units which leads one to assume that whilst not capable of offensive ops they were still good enough for the defensive roll assigned to them??

Cav

Antonio Munoz' "Goering's Grenadiers" (ISBN 9781891227400) is one of the better books on the subject.

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 12:46:49 PM

wiking62

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quote:

ORIGINAL: cavalry

Hart

Where is this from ?

Interesting there were so many

Please note the two Divisions in AGC at the start of the Russian offensive were in the front line - they would not be there by choice

They were not Sich or security units which leads one to assume that whilst not capable of offensive ops they were still good enough for the defensive roll assigned to them??

Cav

Hitler's Legions, the German army order of battle, World War II. by Samuel W. Mitcham and my own sources.

I only detailed a very brief description of each division to highlight the typically poor performance of each unit. Fat Hermann's vanity cost the lives of tens of thousands of men who would have been better employed in regular Wehrmacht units.

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 6:57:36 PM

Capt Cliff

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quote:

ORIGINAL: hart2412

quote:

ORIGINAL: cavalry

Hart

Where is this from ?

Interesting there were so many

Please note the two Divisions in AGC at the start of the Russian offensive were in the front line - they would not be there by choice

They were not Sich or security units which leads one to assume that whilst not capable of offensive ops they were still good enough for the defensive roll assigned to them??

Cav

Hitler's Legions, the German army order of battle, World War II. by Samuel W. Mitcham and my own sources.

I only detailed a very brief description of each division to highlight the typically poor performance of each unit. Fat Hermann's vanity cost the lives of tens of thousands of men who would have been better employed in regular Wehrmacht units.

Excellant point "hart2412" makes about Herman. When you disband a LW division where does the man-power go? Into a seperate LW pool or the general Wehrmacht pool? If the latter then we are playing a what if game not a historical one. The fat man would not have allowed his boy's to be used as army troops.

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 7:19:57 PM

wiking62

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I'm pretty sure the manpower just goes into one pool.

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 7:21:09 PM

Great_Ajax

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Yes. There is just one pool.

Trey

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 8:34:21 PM

Veldmaarschalk

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Also remember that when the first LW divisions were created they only existed of 4 battallions of infantry (16 companies), without a regimental staff and further had one AT-battallion, 1 Art-battaliona and 1 FlaK-battallion. So they were divisions only in name.

In january 1943 the still existing LW-divisions were taken over by the Wehrmacht and by then were reformed to a more 'standard' TOE, they also were renamed to Feld-Division (L)

Besides the books the same information can be found on Axis History Factbook or Lexicon der Wehrmacht or Die Deutsche Wehrmacht.

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RE: Luftwaffe field divisions - 3/10/2010 8:41:16 PM

Veldmaarschalk

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quote:

Please note the two Divisions in AGC at the start of the Russian offensive were in the front line - they would not be there by choice

They were not Sich or security units which leads one to assume that whilst not capable of offensive ops they were still good enough for the defensive roll assigned to them??

By 1944, the 4th and 6th Field-Divisions (L), were just as good or as bad (depends on how you look at it) as a 'normal' Germany infantry-division. A lot of the soldiers in it were veterans, with 2 years experience of fighting there. In the rankings system of the German staff they were considered 'fully capable of defensive operations'.

(in reply to Veldmaarschalk)

Post #: 13